Plea issued to landowner over 'fire-risk' grass

3 hours ago

Simon SparkEast Yorkshire & Lincolnshire

BBC An area of very long, brown grass. There are houses in the distance. — The grass near Nightingale Crescent was reportedly not cut for a year

An area of grassland in Lincoln is raising concerns for people living nearby who say it is a fire risk – with one neighbour cutting short his holiday so he can "protect his property".

The land between Nightingale Crescent and Mallard Close that is used as a cut-through to Hartsholme Park is privately-owned, and residents say they have had a battle trying to get the landowner to cut it.

Biff Bean, an independent member of City of Lincoln Council, said it was a longstanding problem, and it has been "lucky a discarded cigarette hasn't set the area ablaze and caused a major incident".

The BBC has contacted the landowner for comment.

A man in a short-sleeved blue checkered shirt standing in front of long, brown grass. — City of Lincoln councillor Biff Bean is unhappy about the state of the grassland

"One of the neighbours here has cut short his holiday because he's concerned that if there was a fire he wouldn't be here to protect his property, so that's how serious it is... it's just reckless and arrogant," said Bean.

Resident Nicola De Ruiter said: "It's grown to such a height and it's so dry... it's just powder.

"The main worry is you've got people who walk through here all the time [and] it only takes a cast-off cigarette [or] a glass bottle with the heat. It's such a fire risk and all we ask is that the landowner cuts the grass."

She added: "To me it's a duty of care... we're trying to save our houses and he didn't seem to care."

A woman with white hair, glasses and a white top looks at the camera. — Nicola De Ruiter says she is worried about the fire risk

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue area manager Dan Moss said long grass increased the risks.

"Any grass, in the conditions we're facing now, is tinder-dry, and any fire quickly spreads," he said.

"The longer the grass, the more fuel, the quicker and easier it is to spread."

The day after the BBC asked the landowner for comment, contractors cut the grass with strimmers and mowers, but they did not take it away.

But Bean said that "not raking the grass still poses a fire" and "I will contact him again to see if he's going to get a team in to rake the grass [and] clear it properly".